from Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,

“The guy I had is going to go in a different direction,” general manager Jim Rutherford said Friday afternoon.

Rutherford had said Thursday the coaching search was “coming to an end” and that he decided on one of eight candidates to interview for the job.

Rutherford declined to identify his chosen candidate.

Team and league sources said Rutherford spent Thursday night and Friday morning meeting with Willie Desjardins, a minor-league coach with only two years of experience as an NHL assistant. Topics discussed included assistant coaches, contract length and Desjardin's possible salary, the sources said.

“We couldn't make it work,” Rutherford said, adding he will start another coaching search next week.

“I'm going to take the weekend to sort some things out,” Rutherford said.

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